THE CIRIN BULLETIN
Conference Interpreting
Research
Information Network
An independent network for the
dissemination of information on
conference interpreting
research (CIR)
__________________________________________________________________
BULLETIN n°43
January 2012
Editor: Daniel Gile
Contributors to this issue:
Dörte
Andres (DA); Ivana Čeňková (IC); Franz Pöchhacker (FP)
Editorial address:
D. Gile, 46, rue d'Alembert, 92190 Meudon, France
e-mail: daniel.gile@yahoo.com
Web site: http://www.cirinandgile.com
This
Bulletin aims at contributing to the dissemination of information on conference
interpreting research (CIR) and at providing useful information to members of
the CIR community worldwide. It is intended to achieve maximum coverage of
research into this sub-field of interpreting, and only occasionally refers to
research and publications in other sub-fields. The Bulletin is published
twice a year, in January and July. For further information and electronic or
paper copies of early issues (the last issue is available on the Web site at
any time), please contact D. Gile.
Note: the mini-abstracts may be
followed by the initials of the contributors who sent in the information, but
the text may also be written or adapted from the original text by D.Gile, who
takes responsibility for the comments and for any errors introduced by him.
* *
*
Over the years, boundaries between branches of Interpreting
Studies have shifted considerably, and researchers basically focusing on
conference interpreting now find research relevant to their interests in
studies on other forms of interpreting. For instance, signed language
interpreting is mostly done in the simultaneous mode and has commonalities with
conference interpreting in spoken languages – but it is different in other aspects,
beyond the obvious spoken vs. signed modality. Research on signed language
interpreting thus affords good opportunities to use stereoscopic vision to see
things which might be taken for granted otherwise. Brenda Nicodemus and Laurie
Swabey, well-known and respected personalities from the American signed
language interpreting community, have edited a new book offering guidance to
beginning researchers, with contributions from both spoken language and signed
language interpreting experts. Note that the very idea of this book, as well as
explicit statements from some of its contributors, show a welcome awareness of
the fact that the quality of our research needs to be improved.
Educational
settings are well-known to signed language interpreters. Marlene Verhoef and
Theodorus du Plessis have edited a fascinating book about spoken language
interpreting at North West University, in South Africa, where simultaneous
interpreting with portable whispering equiment by atypical interpreters has
been in operation for several years as one solution to language problems in the
university classroom. The operation has been systematically monitored and
documented from the start, another excellent initiative. As will be seen from
the micro-summaries of papers the collective volume brings together, preliminary
findings suggest inter alia that short training can be sufficient to provide
good quality interpreting in simultaneous, that turns of more than 45 minutes
are not necessarily very tiring to interpreters under certain conditions, that
interpreters with specialized thematic training do not necessarily provide
‘better’ quality than interpreters without it... Many questions arise which
deserve some thought and perhaps more research...and suggest that educational
interpreting is another branch of interpreting with good potential for interdisciplinary
and inter-intraIS-disciplinary research.
Speaking of
research in more general terms, one endemic problem in Translation Studies in
general, and in Interpreting Studies in particular, is the fact that (or should
I say my impression that) we researchers are not always aware of weaknesses in
our knowledge and research skills, and that if unsuspecting colleagues like
what we say because we say it well, in a convincing style and tone, we tend to (mis)take
this as evidence confirming our high level of expertise....
Hands-on research training with corrected
exercises, especially exercises with empirical research, where it is easier to
show students where they go wrong (and convince them of the fact) than in
purely conceptual or theoretical exercises, are a dual-effect remedy: first of
all, they show what is right and what is not so right; secondly, and perhaps
equally importantly, they raise the students’ awareness of their fallibility.
The memory of the (numerous) errors I made in the course of my training in
empirical research decades ago is still with me, as a powerful reminder... and
makes me wonder about the assertiveness sometimes found in MA students participating
in on-line seminars. Could it be that something in the physical classroom environment
is necessary for awareness of one’s fallibility and for the constant need of efforts
at self-improvement?
In
Spain, the ECIS group, under the guidance of Ángela Collados Aís, has published
yet another collective volume on quality assessment, with a systematic and
extensive treatment of various quality parameters as seen from work in cognate
disciplines (including sociology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, the psychology
of emotions, sociolinguistics, phonetics, stylistics, psycho-acoustics, media
studies, foreign language education, logopedics, sociolingistics), and within
TS and IS. This work is impressive on several accounts. First, once again, it
shows evidence of excellent teamwork: a set modus operandi, coordination and effective
coooperation, including considerable translation work; secondly, it builds on research
on ideas relevant to interpreting quality assessment in cognate disciplines and
offers a wealth of references which will be useful to researchers investigating
interpreting quality; thirdly, the team has once again made a courageous
choice, that of publishing in a language other than English, knowing full well
that this would restrict readership, at least in the short term. All the
chapters were originally written in Spanish and were then translated into
German.
Because
of the wealth of information it offers around a topic central to interpreting
and to interpreter education, the book should also be made available to readers
who do not understand German. Commercial translation is costly. Sometimes,
faculty members can do the work (as was done for the Spanish volume – Kayoko
Takeda, who teaches at Monterey, translated papers in English into Japanese for
the Torikai et al. volume listed in in one section of this Bulletin), but this represents enormous work, which requires much
time, a rare commodity. Could the task not be undertaken in translator training
schools, by students, under the guidance of their translation instructors,
within the framework of their training as translators? More generally, could
the translation of TS and IS publications not be institutionalized within
translator training programs as part of the students’ training?
Wishing
all readers an exellent New year,
Daniel Gile
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela. 2010. Global English and
English as a Lingua Franca (ELF): Implications for the Interpreting Profession.
trans-kom 3:2. 126-148.
* A
questionnaire-based survey of 32 experienced conference interpreters, which
suggests that the spreading use of English by non-native speakers is a source
of problems and professional dissatisfaction.
Cheung, Kay-Fan Andrew. 2011. Omissions and
Additions in Chinese into English Simultaneous Interpreting: a Case Study. Chinese Translators Journal n°6(2011). 42-
(in Chinese)
*Abstract: This paper is a case
study of omissions and additions found in Chinese into English simultaneous
interpreting. These instances are mapped to the EVS and analyzed according to
Gile’s Efforts Model and the interpretive theory of translation. Instances of
omission can be divided into those that may be triggered by the need to
accommodate the target language and those that may be triggered by interpreter’s
mental overload. Instances of addition can be categorized by explicitation,
deverbalization and supplementation.
Key words: Chinese into English
simultaneous interpreting; omissions; additions; ear voice span (EVS)
Fantinuoli, Claudio. 2006. “Specialized Corpora from the Web and Term
Extraction for Simultaneous Interpreters.” In Wacky! Working Papers on Web
as Corpus, by Marco Baroni e Silvia Bernardini (eds.), 173-190. Bologna:
GIDIT, 2006.
Fantinuoli, Claudio. 2011. Computerlinguistik
in der Dolmetschpraxis unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Korpusanalyse. Translation: Computation,
Corpora, Cognition 1:1. 45-74. http://www.t-c3.org/index.php/t-c3/article/view/6/3
* From the first issue of a new journal. An overview
of possibilities for using electronic corpora for conference preparation.
Includes a description of tools.
Gile, Daniel. 2011. 通訳 – 異文化コミユ二ケシオンを越える現象
(Interpreting. More than intercultural communication). In TORIKAI Kumiko, Kenichi NODA, Masako HIRAGA, Wataru KOYAMA (eds). 異文化コミユ二ケシオン学への招待 (An invitation
to Intercultural Communication Studies). Tokyo: Misuzushobou.
403-416. (Japanese translation, by Kayoko
TAKEDA, of Gile (2002), reported in
Bulletin n°26(2003).
* The paper, initially given in 2002, is of little
interest. What is more interesting is the fact that it has been translated into
Japanese as part of a collective volume on intercultural communication, along
with Japanese translations of papers by Claudia
Angelelli (on interpreting and multilingualism), Lawrence Venuti (on the translation of humor), and Anthony Pym (on translation theory as a
means to find answers to historical questions). These, along with a paper by Torikai, the first editor of the book,
on sustainable development and Translation Studies viewed from the diversity
angle, are the fourth and last part of the book, devoted to intercultural
communication and TS. In other parts of the book, other aspects of
intercultural communication are covered, including its development as an
academic field, multi-cultural coexistence, European intercultural
communication studies, language education and education for intercultural
citizenship, nature and communication, linguistic issues. In contrast to the
situation in most other countries, issues of intercultural communication have
been a focal point of reflection on interpreting in Japan from the start.
Jüngst, Heike Elisabeth. 2011.
Filmdolmetschen. Der Filmdolmetscher und seine Rollen. Trans-kom 4:2. 176-190.
* An introduction, essentially descriptive, of
simultaneous interpreting of films.
Kalina,
Silvia.
2011. Maß für Maß. Eine vergleichende Profilanalyse von
Diskursen beim Dolmetschen. Trans-kom 4:2.
161-175.
Mead, Peter. 2011. Co-ordinating Delivery in Consecutive Interpreting. inTRAlinea vol.13. http://www.intralinea.it/volumes/eng_more.php?id=926_0_2_0_M75%
* This essay examines the delivery phase
of consecutive interpreting (CI), when the interpreter co-ordinates
consultation of notes with mental reconstruction of the speaker’s message and
its reformulation in the target language, in the broad perspective of oral
presentation skills. While the untrained observer might see note-taking as the
most important part of CI, various authors caution about the dangers of
concentrating too much on writing to the detriment of listening and analysis.
To capitalise on good listening and judicious note-taking, when the interpreter
takes the floor s/he should time consultation of notes and develop the habit of
reading ahead to ensure unhesitant delivery. Against this background, the paper
examines how the sharing of attention between consultation of notes and oral
reformulation in the second phase of CI is addressed in interpreting studies
and, by analogy, how studies of public speaking skills too can afford an
interesting perspective on this skill.
Moratto, Riccardi. 2010. Chinese to Italian Interpreting of Chengyu.
inTRAlinea Vol. 12.
http://www.intralinea.it/volumes/eng_more.php?id=891_0_2_0_M74%
* This paper investigates the interpreting
of Chinese idiomatic expressions from Chinese to Italian. The data derive from
my interpreting experience in Taiwan, from literature review, from newspapers
articles, TV news and from attending classes of Chinese and Taiwanese interpreting-training
programs as a participant observer. The data collected were, then, analyzed to
complete the report. Interpreting literature is permeated with enhancing papers
on idiomatic expressions and on possible coping strategies. In the interpreting
field, though, academic papers have not always recognized the importance of the
interdependence of cultural and linguistic traits as for interpreting two
culturally, mentally and syntactically distant languages such as Chinese and
Italian. Furthermore, not much has been written on the linguistic combination
Chinese-Italian, in so far as all the attention has always been focused on
Chinese-English interpreting both in the passive and in the active mode. The
results indicate that mastering Chinese idioms not only is a major asset for
interpreters, but also a way to please the audience and meet with the
audience’s expectations. Idioms or proverbs in China and Taiwan are perceived
differently from the Western world, where, at times, stereotyped or cliché expressions are often perceived under a colloquial
light. This paper is part of a broader study concerning Chinese to Italian
simultaneous interpreting. Other papers concerning other aspects of Chinese to
Italian interpreting will be published separately. Getting acquainted with the
quintessence of Chinese culture and language, i.e. chéngyŭ (Chinese idiomatic expressions), is
perceived not only as an asset but as a conditio sine qua non for the
qualification of an interpreter, both conference simultaneous/consecutive and
community or liaison interpreters, with Chinese as a working language.
Sakamoto, Akiko. 2011. An empirical study on the use of note-taking for
Consecutive Interpreting in the teaching of translation. Jostrans n°6 (2011). 203-223.
* In this article, the author argues
that the teaching of note-taking as used in consecutive interpreting can form
an effective component of the teaching of written translation, specifically for
understanding the clause relations within an English text and reproducing them
in a Japanese translation. The study includes an account of an experiment
designed to investigate whether knowledge and experience of note-taking
influences students’ translation products and processes.
Seeber,
Kilian. 2011. Cognitive load in
simultaneous interpreting. Existing theories – new models. Interpreting 13.2. 176-204.
* A theoretical paper, focused
on Wickens’ multi-resource theory of cognitive resources, which Seeber uses as
a basis in his (ongoing?) work towards building a new cognitive load model of
simultaneous interpreting. Of particular interest is his attempt to quantify
the total cognitive load required when working from German into English and of
the cognitive cost of various tactics (“strategies”), based on Wicken’s
conflict matrix. The ideas are very interesting. However, besides the fact that
it is not clear how conflict coefficients were determined in Seeber’s matrix,
simplifying assumptions (semantic priming, frequency, abstractness and cognates
are not taken into account – p. 192) cast doubts on the practical usefulness of
the model. Differences in the interpreter’s prior knowledge of a theme and of
the speaker’s position and differences in the structure of the source speech generate
high variability in the anticipability of various information elements for a
given interpreter, which could mean that the actual effects of a theoretically
higher or lower cognitive load would be difficult to predict. Another point
made by Wickens is that his coefficients are a relative value, not an absolute
one. Seeber’s conclusion that “local fluctuations of cognitive load reflected
in the model seem to be of a magnitude that does not lend support to Gile’s
“tightrope hypothesis”according to which, “most of the time, interpreters work
near saturation level””(p.197) is puzzling: first, if the coefficients are
relative, how can one draw conclusions on absolute values? Second, Gile did not
quantify “most of the time” or “near” in his presentation of the hypothesis;
where is the contradiction between the tightrope hypothesis, formulated in such
vague terms, and Seeber’s idea that “interpreters still work below saturation
levels a considerable part of the time”, which is equally vague? Third and
perhaps most importantly: if the tightrope hypothesis is not a good explanation
for massive evidence of frequent errors, omissions and infelicities in
simultaneous renderings of speeches around problem triggers accounted for by said
hypothesis, can Seeber offer another account? A theory is supposed to at least
explain empirical phenomena and preferably predict them, not to ignore their
existence. Further clarification and elaboration are required.
Zhong, Weihe & Wang, Binhua. 2010. Interpreting Studies
as a Discipline: A New Conception. Chinese
Translators Journal N°5 (2010).7- (in Chinese)
*Abstract: Emerging in the 1950s and
undergoing a period of fast development in the past two decades, the studies of
interpreting remains confronted however with two critical issues in its pursuit
of disciplinary status: how it should be positioned vis-à-vis its neighboring
disciplines; and what shape its conceptual framework ought to take to ensure
its continued growth. This article proposes that interpreting studies be
conceived as a (sub)discipline within Translation Studies, and that its
disciplinary framework be made up primarily of four components: theoretical
assumptions about its own epistemology and methodology, and practical
understandings of the objects and approaches for its research.
Zhong, Weihe & Wang, Binhua. 2010. Interpreting Studies
as a Discipline: The Methodological Issues. Chinese
Translators Journal N°6 (2010). 18- (in Chinese)
*Abstract: As an emerging sub-discipline
of Translation Studies, Interpreting Studies has grown exponentially over the
past decade, registering a phenomenal increase both in the number of scholars
working in the field and in the number and quality of scholarly publications on
interpreting. On the basis of a survey of major approaches to the study of
interpreting, this article generalizes on the methodological norms currently
taking shape in this area of studies, offering suggestions to its practitioners
for the designing and implementation of their research projects.
Zuo, Jia & Liu Heping. 2011. Image Schemata and Shadowing
in Simultaneous Interpreting: A Schema Theory-Guided Empirical Study. The Chinese Translators Journal
n°5 (2011). 58- (in Chinese)
* Abstract: As gestalts, image schemata contain not
only visual components but also kinesthetic information of all kinds. A schema
theory-guided empirical study on interpreting we have conducted shows that
image-schema-based visualization plays a crucial role in shadowing and
proposition recall. With the help of such visualization, interpreters are in a
better position to actively predict what is to come, retrieve information from
memory, and free themselves from the constraints imposed by the linguistic
forms of the original material.
M.A.
AND GRADUATION THESES
Honegger, Monica. 2006. Die Anwendung von
Terminologiesystemen beim Simultandolmetschen. Winterthur : Diplomarbeit:
Institut für Übersetzen und Dolmetschen Zürcher Hochschule Winterthur.
Samková, Monika. 2011. The
Use of Pause in Simultaneous Interpreting / Úloha pauzy v procesu
simultánního tlumočení (in
Czech) – M.A. thesis, Institute of Translation Studies, Charles University,
Prague – September 2011 (director of the thesis: Ivana Čeňková)
Abstract
The
purpose of the present thesis is to shed light on the role of pauses in
simultaneous interpreting between French and Czech, mainly from the point of
view of the listeners of the source speeches in French as well as both students
of interpretation and professional interpreters and from the viewpoint of the
listeners of the speeches interpreted into Czech. It is divided into a
theoretical and an empirical part. The theoretical part briefly outlines the
process of simultaneous interpreting and Daniel Gile´s Effort Model and then it
focuses on prosody and individual prosodic (suprasegmental) features,
especially pauses and their use in simultaneous interpreting. The empirical
part describes the experiment and presents its results. The experiment itself
examines the effect that unnaturally long or unnaturally placed pauses in the
speaker´s quasi-authentic source speeches have on the choice of strategy and
the simultaneous interpreters´ performances (students and professionnals) and
on the subsequent assessment of their performances made by the listeners of the
interpreted speeches.
Keywords
simultaneous
interpreting, pause, listener, speech, speaker, interpreter, comprehensibility
Tauchmanová, Jana.
2011. Daniel Gile´s Effort Model in Simultaneous
Interpreting/ Model úsilí Daniela Gila v simultánním
tlumočení (in
Czech) (Institute of Translation Studies, Charles University, Prague, dir. Jana
Rejšková)
Summary
Simultaneous interpreting is a
very complex cognitive process. Daniel Gile’s Effort Model is an attempt to
describe in a schematic way the various competing processes that simultaneous
interpreting is composed of. The model is based on findings from cognitive
psychology, especially those relating to working memory and the limited
processing capacity of the human mind. It defines the process of simultaneous
interpreting as a combination of three individual, yet coinciding efforts (the
Listening and Analysis Effort, the Production Effort, the Memory Effort), which
require a certain amount of processing capacity to assure quality interpreting
performance. Problem triggers can cause saturation of the interpreter’s
processing capacity to occur. Saturation manifests itself either by failure
sequences or by the deterioration of the interpreter’s performance, immediately
or at a distance.
The focus of our thesis is on
processing capacity saturation due to numbers in simultaneous interpreting,
from the point of view of the Effort Model. The first part of our paper is
theoretical and deals with the various aspects of the simultaneous interpreting
process, especially those relating to processing capacity, saturation and
working memory; as well as with questions of well-known problem triggers,
interpreting strategies and tactics, the unit of meaning and finally the
subject of performance assessment. The second part of our paper is devoted to
the findings of our experimental English-Czech study, the goal of which was the
empirical testing of a hypothesis.
The hypothesis that we set out to verify was such that the occurrence
of numbers, a well-known problem trigger, during simultaneous interpreting can
result in the saturation of the interpreter’s processing capacity. Saturation
was observed as manifested in the deterioration of the interpreter’s
performance. However, contrary to our expectations, in the experimental
segments containing numbers, performance on the average improved with the
increasing proportion of numbers interpreted. With regards to individual
segments, performance on the average improved in approximately 66% of them with
the increasing proportion of numbers interpreted and deteriorated in
approximately 33% of them with the increasing proportion of numbers
interpreted. Therefore the results of our experiment are ambiguous and the
hypothesis was proven right only for certain segments. However, these results
could be influenced by the fact that students were used as subjects.
Keywords
simultaneous interpreting, effort model, working memory, processing
capacity, saturation, problem triggers, numbers.
DOCTORAL
DISSERTATIONS
Blasco Mayor, María Jesús. 2005. Beg your pardon? La comprensión oral
en la formación de intérpretes. Tesis
doctoral. Unversitat Jaume I.
Císlerová, Eva. 2011. Tlumočené interakce na filmových festivalech
v České republice aneb biograf a tlumočení (Interpreter-Mediated Interactions at Film Festivals in the
Czech Republic or Interpreting the Cinema). PhD dissertation (dir. Ivana Čeňková),
Abstract
Film festivals are an important setting for interpreted interactions in
the
This thesis observes
interpreting at film festivals from two points of view.
Firstly, interpreting at
Czech festivals is observed from a distance. Research was conducted by means of
interviews and questionnaires directed to film festival organizers and hired
agencies responsible for interpreting at the festivals. The result of this
investigation is presented as a list of interpreting methods and approaches
observed at individual festivals in the
Secondly, the thesis looks at
four Czech film festivals from a closer perspective. Consecutively interpreted
interactions before and after film screenings were observed in detail. The
following festivals were included in the research:
While the working mode of
interpreting in the examined debates was mostly consecutive, in some cases it
was combined with chuchotage in one direction of the bilateral
communication.
Three languages were included
in the analysis: English, German and
The mode of research was
orientational and qualitative. Qualitative analysis of recordings from the
debates and introductions was supported by ATLAS.ti software. Twenty-five
interactions from the four festivals were recorded in the cinemas.
The research is based on four
theoretical concepts: culture, interaction, dialogue and text. Culture is
traced both as language culture and as an individual culture with associated
norms and values. Each interaction is seen as a unique encounter of cultures.
Leibbrand, Miriam Paola. 2009. Verstehen verstehen: Modellierung epistemologischer und
methodologischer Grundlagen für die Konferenzdolmetschforschung ausgehend vom
Simultandolmetschen in die B-Sprache, Dissertation am Zentrum für
Translationswissenschaft der Universität Wien.
* The aim of this dissertation consists in introducing a new methodological and epistemological approach in Interpreting Studies. It has been elaborated a model for integrating fundamental concepts of social research methodology, cognitive-constructivist philosophy of science and hermeneutics. The question about how to measure comprehension in simultaneous interpreting into the B-Language, the conference interpreter´s active, but non-native working language, was the starting point of the underlying study and led to a multidimensional conceptual model based on a qualitatively oriented and theory-building research process.(Abstract by the author).
BOOKS
Andres,
Dörte & Behr Martina (eds). 2011. Interpretes Mundi – Deuter der Welt.
München: Martin Meidenbauer.
* Die verschiedenen
Bereiche, in denen Dolmetscher zum Einsatz kommen, und die Bedingungen, unter
denen sie ihre Tätigkeit ausüben, sind in den letzten Jahrzehnten immer
vielfältiger und anspruchsvoller geworden.
In elf ausgewählten Arbeiten, die im
Rahmen eines dolmetschwissenschaftlichen Hauptseminars am FTSK Germersheim /
Mainz im Sommersemester 2010 von Studierenden verfasst wurden, wird dieser
Entwicklung anhand verschiedener Fragestellungen nachgegangen: die Wahrnehmung
und Rolle des Sprachmittlers in der Vergangenheit und heute, die Ansprüche an
den Dolmetscher bei internationalen und nationalen Gerichten, die emotionale
Belastung beim Dolmetschen in der Psychotherapie sowie in Kriegs- und
Krisengebieten, der Einfluss neuer Sprachtechnologien und
Software-Entwicklungen auf die Dolmetschtätigkeit, die Bedeutung von Expertise und Qualitätssicherung für die
Professionalisierung dieses Berufes.
Anhand der
unterschiedlichen Artikel werden die Schwierigkeiten, Grenzen und neue
Möglichkeiten der grenzüberwindenden Sprachmittlung aufgezeigt.
In recent decades the various areas in
which interpreters are used and the conditions under which they perform their
services have become increasingly diverse and more demanding.
These
developments have are explored in eleven selected works, prepared by students
in connection with an advanced seminar held at FTSK Mainz / Germersheim in the
summer semester 2010, through a series of issues: the perceptions and role of
the language mediator in the past and today, the demands placed on interpreters
in international and national court settings, the emotional burden on
interpreters in psychotherapy and in areas of conflict and war, the influence
of new language technology and developments in software on the work of the
interpreter and the importance of expertise and quality assurance for the
continuing professionalization of this occupation.
The articles also indicate difficulties,
limits and new language possibilities for cross-border language mediation.
* * *
Collados Aís, Ángela, Emilia Iglesias Fernández, E. Macarena Pradas
Macías & Elisabeth Stévaux
(Hrsg). 2011. Qualitätsparameter beim
Simultandolmetschen. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Tübingen: Narr. (texts were translated from Spanish into German by Rafael
Barranco-Droege, Marie-Luise Nobs and Conceptión Sánchez-Adams).
* ECIS,
the Spanish group dedicated to research on the assessment of quality in
simultaneous interpreting, which has been very productive in terms of empirical
research on this topic over the years, has come out with yet another volume
reporting extensive research on the role and importance of various parameters
in quality perception. The new volume, in German, is a follow up to the 2007
volume in Spanish reported in Bulletin n°35 (December 2007). Note the
deliberate linguistic choices, away from the dominance of English. Whereas the
previous volume reported original research by members of the group, this new
volume is a very extensive and systematic review of the relevant literature. It
is made up of ten chapters, each focusing on one specific quality parameter,
and a huge bibliography of 61 pages listing more than 1200 items.
Contents
García
Berrera, Olalla. Eindrucksbildung. p. 15-32.
* on and
around first impressions
Iglesias
Fernández, Emilia. Stimme. p. 33-60.
* on and
around voice quality
Barranco-Droege,
Rafael, Ángela Collados Aís, José-Manuel Pazos-Bretaña. Intonation. p. 61-92.
Pradas
Macías, E. Macarena.
Flüssigkeit. p. 93-117.
* on and
around fluency
Blasco
Mayor, María J. Diktion. p. 119-139.
* on and around diction
Stévaux, Elisabeth. Akzent. p. 141-172.
* on and around accent
Jiménez Ivars, Amparo. Logische Kohäsion. p.
173-189.
* on an
around logical cohesion
Pérez-Luzardo Díaz, Jessica & Rafael
Barranco-Droege. Stil. p. 191-217.
* on
and around style
García
de Quesada, Mercedes. Terminologie. p.
219-251.
* on and
around terminology
Nobs,
Marie-Louise, E. Macarena Pradas Macías & M. Manuela Fernández Sánchez. Korrekte
und vollständige Sinnübertragung. p. 253-290.
* on and
around correct and complete transmission of ‘sense’
Bibliography: p. 293-353.
* * *
Haas, Nicole. 2011. Dolmetschen am Ruanda Tribunal. München: Martin Meidenbauer.
* Im Fokus dieses Buches steht die Arbeit der Dolmetscher
am Internationalen Strafgerichtshof für Ruanda (ICTR). Als wichtigste Quellen
dienen dabei die Protokolle der Gerichtsverhandlungen sowie Auskünfte von
Dolmetschern selbst. Die Analyse dieser Informationen ergibt eine Vielzahl
problematischer Aspekte, die eine überaus negative Auswirkung auf die
Verhandlungen haben. Dies betrifft z. B. die Qualifikation der Dolmetscher,
ihre psychische Belastung, die Zusammenarbeit mit Juristen sowie sprachliche
und kulturelle Missverständnisse. Darüber hinaus ist die technische Ausstattung
des Gerichts bei Weitem nicht optimal. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass die
Einstellung der Zeugen gegenüber den Dolmetschern häufig von großem Misstrauen
geprägt ist. Besonders für ein Gericht, das so schwerwiegende Anklagen wie
Völkermord und die Verletzung von Menschenrechten behandelt, sind die herausgearbeiteten
Schwierigkeiten nicht hinnehmbar. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es deshalb, einen
Beitrag zur Sensibilisierung für die Problematik des Dolmetschens am ICTR und
damit zu Gerechtigkeit und Fairness von Gerichtsverfahren zu leisten.(DA)
Summary
Leibbrand, Miriam Paola. 2011. Grundlagen einer hermeneutischen Dolmetschforschung (TRANSÜD, hrsg.
von Hartwig Kalverkämper und Larisa Schippel, Band 38), Berlin: Frank &
Timme.
Nicodemus, Brenda and Laurie Swabey (eds).
2011. Advances in Interpreting Research. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John
Benjamins.
* Another
welcome initiative by two personalities from the American signed language
interpreting community. In their introduction, the editors talk about their
experience and feel that a paradigm shift has occurred in the field of signed
language interpreting regarding the connection between research and practice,
with a growing number of practitioners who now understand the value of
grounding their work in evidence-based studies (p.1). At the same time, the
editors felt the need for guidance to working interpreters and trainers for
incorporating research into their work (p.2). They consider their volume to be
an extension of Gile, Dam, Dubslaff, Martinsen & Schjoldager’s collective
volume on getting started in interpreting research (2001), moving beyond the
initial stages of research into reports and reflections on various aspects of
interpreting research in both spoken language and signed language interpreting,
but this book is still written essentially for graduate students, interpreting
practitioners, educators and aspiring researchers (p.3).
Contents
Pöchhacker,
Franz. 2011. Researching interpreting. Approaches to inquiry. p. 5-25.
* General
reflection, diversity, classification, mixed designs…
Russell,
Debra. 2011. Designing a research project. Beginning with the end in mind. p.
27-46.
* Advice
to beginning researchers.
Moser-Mercer,
Barbara. 2011. Identifying and interpreting scientific
phenomena. Simultaneous challenges to interpreting research. p. 47-58.
* Based
on a grid of four stages for the development of science proposed by Shneider
(2009), the author suggests that IS is at stage two and is entering stage 3,
for which solid training in research and a strong emphasis on scientific rigor
are necessary – but still
missing in our field.
Metzger,
Melanie & Cynthia Roy. 2011. The first three years of a three-year grant.
p. 59-84.
* A
particularly useful narrative and discussion of practical issues and challenges
in conducting naturalistic research on interpreted meetings with
signed-language interpreting.
Liu,
Minhua. 2011. Methodology in interpreting studies. A methodological review of
evidence-based research. p. 85-119.
* The
author lists and classifies the methodology in 48 evidence-based studies
published in the journal Interpreting from 2004 to 2009. Quite useful for
beginners who can see what types of methodologies were used, with explanations,
and references so that they can read the real thing. Note that Liu’s definition
of “experimental” follows the cognitive science tradition and is somewhat more
restrictive than definitions found in other disciplines. “Evidence-based”
presumably is an alternative to “empirical”.
Napier,
Jemina. 2011. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does
it make a noise? The merits of publishing interpreting research. p. 121-152.
*
Advocacy for research and publication, advice to beginners on when and where to
publish, with examples.
Leeson,
Lorraine. 2011. “Mark my words”. The” linguistic, social and
political significance of the assessment of signed language interpreters. p.
153-176.
* A
general discussion, with important points made. It is a pity that the author
did not include in her discussion the (considerable) existing work on assessment
in spoken language interpreting.
Hessmann,
Jens, Eeva Salmi, Graham H. Turner & Svenja Wurm. 2011. Developing
and transmitting a shared interpreting research ethos. EUMASLI – a case study.
p. 177-198.
Peterson,
Rico. 2011. Profession in pentimento. A narrative inquiry into interpreting
in video settings. p. 199-223.
* An informative
and interesting description and discussion of issues around video relay service
interpreting… but in what way is it linked to the theme of the book?
Adam,
Robert & Christopher Stone. 2011. Through a historical lens. p. 225-239.
* Advocacy
for historical research into language brokering for the Deaf.
Swabey,
Laurie & Brenda Nicodemus. 2011. Bimodal bilingual interpreting in the U.S.
healthcare system. p. 241-259.
* A
review of the situation and call for action.
* * *
Verhoef, Marlene & Theodorus du Plessis (eds). 2008. Multilingualism and
Educational Interpreting. Hatfield, Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.
* At the
core of this book is the wish to document the educational interpreting project
at North-West University, South Africa, which had been in operation over four
years at the time the book was published. The first two papers (“chapters”) in
the book (by Marlene Verhoef and Theodorus du Plessis respectively) refer mostly
to multilingualism and multilingual policy in South Africa. The others,
micro-summarized below, are of particular interest to the community of
conference interpreters as they deal more specifically with (simultaneous)
interpreting in the classroom as performed by interpreters with atypical
qualifications and working under atypical conditions.
It seems that the people in charge
of the project, and in particular Marlene Verhoef, had the excellent idea of
documenting it through research from the start, mainly through field
observation, questionnaires and focus group discussions. As explained in the
editorial, I find this book particularly interesting and feel that its editors
and other authors should be commended for their ideas and dedication in starting
research as soon as the interpreting project itself started, in following it up
longitudinally and in writing up provisional findings in this book and
elsewhere. My only reservation is that I would have loved to see more explicit
reports on the methodology and the data collected – readers are often treated
to summaries rather than to full-fledged research reports. But I am sure this
can be corrected in papers to be submitted to journals at a later stage.
Contents
Blaauw, Johan. 2008. Towards a model for
the training of educational interpreting. In Verhoef & du Plessis (eds).
32-46.
* On the Potchefstroom campus of North-West
University, South Africa, simultaneous interpreting through portable
whispered-interpreting equipment of some 400 lecture hours per week, mostly in
the English-Afrikaans combination, is provided by circa 60 interpreters and
“assistant interpreters”, only one of whom has undergone university-level
interpreter training. The other interpreters are mostly first-degree holders
from the university and a few free lancers. All have been given in-house
training at NWU. The author explains how and why interpreting was organized
this way. He also reports that there was constant research through
questionnaires completed by the interpreters and the assessment of recordings.
There is also research on end-user perception of interpreting quality, peer
evaluations and terminology feedback slips. Initial training consists of two
long sessions distributed over two days (the theoretical content is largely
based on Gile’s Effort Models and Gravitational Model) and shorter sessions
distributed throughout the academic year. The author reports a surprisingly
high satisfaction rate from users for interpreters with so little training.
Unfortunately, the paper does not provide details of the research methodology
and of the findings, but this information is presumably available. All in all,
it looks as if this unusual model, which departs from standard practice in
schools which follow the AIIC model, could challenge some well-established
ideas.
Bothma, Rhoda & Marlene Verhoef. 2008.
Assessing the role of the interpreter in facilitating classroom communication.
In Verhoef & du Plessis (eds). 135-159.
* In a focus group discussion with students who
benefited from interpreting at NWU, 8 questions were asked about the
correctness of the language used by the interpreter, the understanding of the
content gained by listening to interpretation, their feeling that they were
included in the communication taking place in class, the completeness of the
interpretation, the trust in the interpreter providing students with correct
information, potential disturbance arising from the presence or mannerisms of
the interpreters, their feeling that the interpreter is part of the classroom
communication process, the role played by the interpreter in class. Field
observations were also carried out, and associated with four video recordings.
Finally, there were structured interviews with lecturer in two modules which
were interpreted for students. One interesting conclusion that the authors draw
from the study is that in classroom interpreting, “the responsibility of the
interpreter is not so much to interpret “what is being said”, but to see to the
continuation of communication” in phatic terms (p.156).
De Kock,
Elma & Johan Blaauw. 2008. Are longer interpreting turns than the norm
possible within an educational interpreting environment? In Verhoef & du
Plessis (eds). 82-98.
* The question is tackled on the
basis of questionnaires (27 recipients of the questionnaire, 10 respondents)
and a focus group discussion with four interpreters who had not responded.
Findings, inter alia the fact that half of the respondents said they are not
particularly tired after interpreting for over one period (45 minutes) are
discussed with reference to some models by Gile.
Mathey, Gene. 2008. Simultaneous interpreting at high school level
in South Africa: a case study. In Verhoef & du Plessis (eds). 179-195.
* A language-needs assessment was carried out with 50
questionnaires sent to teachers from three primary schools and five secondary
schools across three South-African provinces, essentially to find out whether
language difficulties caused problems with education and to find out how the
schools addressed them. Results indicated that indeed, the diverse linguistic
background of the students caused difficulties. A pilot project with
interpreting was launched at Frikkie Meyer High School, Thabazimbi, and
questionnaires and focus group discussions were held from the start, with
positive responses.
Olivier, Herculene. 2008. Process, product and
performance: exploring the differences between conference interpreters and
educational interpreters. In Verloef & du Plessis (eds). 99-113
* The main aim of the paper was to determine whether
the typical profile of a simultaneous conference interpreter provided a good
comparative basis for establishing a comparative profile of differences between
conference interpreters and educational interpreters. A heuristic model developed
by Pöchhacker (2004 – Introducing Interpreting Studies, 113-158) was used as
the conceptual basis for discussion. A questionnaire and structured interview
with 14 conference interpreters working in South Africa and 14 NWU educational
interpreters served to collect data. Among interesting differences found, 65%
of the educational interpreters stated they were constantly relying on prior
knowledge when interpreting, whereas conference interpreters said they relied
on prior knowledge most of the time (36%) or sometimes (36%). To this reviewer
(DG), it is not clear how speech can be understood without relying on prior
knowledge. In order to make sense, the answers need to be interpreted further.
Also, the majority of conference interpreters (65%) indicated that sound and
vision was the most problematic input variable, whereas educational
interpreters said speed and mode of delivery were the most problematic input
variables. With respect to their role, conference interpreters felt they had to
deliver a good service to the user, but had to be equally true to the speaker,
whereas educational interpreters showed an emotional connection to the role
they played within the classroom context as an aid to the students (p.110).
Partridge, Maristi. 2008. Influences on the
interpreter’s performance in the classroom. In Verhoef & du Plessis (eds).
67-81.
* An analysis of the factors that influence the
interpreter’s performance in the classroom on the basis of Gile’s Effort Model
of simultaneous interpreting. The author identifies the following factors as
particularly disturbing in the classroom environment: a noisy environment, the
quality of the sound of the speaker’s voice, accent, intonation and rhythm,
speed of delivery, the complexity of the information content, syntactic
differences between the source- and target language, interruptions and
incomplete sentences, deictic references. She also reports that she used
questionnaires asking the interpreters to indicate on a scale of one to four
how much difficulty they experienced in coping with the stated problem, but the
data are not provided in the paper.
Verhoef, Marlene. 2008. Benchmarking the quality management of
educational interpreting services rendered at the North-West University. In
Verhoef & du Plessis (eds). 47-66.
* On
management of quality of the interpreting service at NWU.
Verhoef, Marlene. 2008. Assessing the interpreting quality of
specialist versus non-subject specialist educational interpreters at the
North-West University. In Verhoef & du Plessis (eds). 114-134.
* On the basis of questionnaires,
semi-structured and open-ended focus groups conducted between 2005 and 2007
with end-users and departments and faculties. Some interesting findings:
- end-users frequently fail to see whether
interpreters have a scholarly background in the modules they are interpreting
or not.
- while initially, program owners had a strong
preference for interpreters with previous training in their academic field,
this is no longer overtly expressed, and
lecturer value a good interpersonal working relationship with their
interpreters (p.122).
The
paper also includes a comparison of the performance of 3 interpreters
interpreting the same theme in mathematics, one of whom has no background in
mathematics. The data suggest that the professional performance of interpreters
does not depend upon their subject knowledge.
Verhoef, Marlene. 2008. Accounting for paralanguage and
non-verbal communication in the educational interpreting service rendered at
the North-West University. In Verhoef & du Plessis (eds). 160-178.
* A
theoretical discussion and some comments made on the basis of observation,
questionnaires and interviews. Some interesting points made are the following:
- The regular physical presence of interpreters
in the classroom is significant and actually seems to integrate them to a large
extent into the group (a factor which is absent in conference interpreting from
a booth).
- The interpreter’s attire tended to determine
their perception as part of the student body or part of the faculty or
administration
- The interpreter’s prosody was important in
making the interpreted lecture interesting for students.
It seems that a lively interpreting style
contributes to both trust in and respect for the lecturer and trust in and
respect for the interpreter (p.173). Note that this echoes the findings of the
ECIS group in Granada, started and led by Ángela Collados.
- Only 13% of non-users of interpreting found
the presence of the interpreters in class disturbing (p.174)
- All those students who expressed
dissatisfaction with interpreting as a mode of delivery were first year
students. According to the author, it takes learners a while to acquaint
themselves with the interpreter-mediated mode of delivery. The same thing applies
to the use of headphones. (p.174, 175).
Present Nodes
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